


Relive The Worst

by GalekhXigisi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Identity Reveal, Ships will change and be updated as needed, Trans Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-17 06:56:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19948648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalekhXigisi/pseuds/GalekhXigisi
Summary: After Adrien finally accepts who his father is, he decides to learn about life without the adult, even if it still aches so much longer later. He knows he can do it, especially with all his friends at his sides.





	Relive The Worst

Marinette was rather confused at Tikki's sudden news to see Master Fu at two in the morning on a Thursday night. Now, though, she can only find a disgusting amount of shock written in her mind. It was painful, staring at the display in front of her. 

Marinette knew that Adrien was well aware of Master Fu and his existence. A lot of people were, given that the man was rather loving and outward with it. While Adrien had only thrown two parties at the Agreste mansion, Master Fu had been to one of them, partying with a wide smile and calming exterior, even giving out a couple of miraculouses that day. 

Now, though, she can see the shell of a man, the blonde sitting before both of them. A collection of kwamis sit around the boy, one being the Black Cat. Marinette was pretty sure his name was Plagg, though she wasn't exactly sure. She had only met him at one point. Now, she wishes they were talking again for different circumstances and not ones where everything looked so broken, so  _ bitter. _ She notes a multitude of others that she doesn't recognize. 

He holds to three miraculouses, two of them recognizable while the other is nowhere near it, but Marinette can easily put together what it means. The soft purple kwami that sat on his shoulder was easily distinguished as the butterfly kwami, the broach held in Adrien's' left hand. In his right sat what could have been a million different things, but the tail feathers of a peacocks pin it as the blue kwami curled up in his hands, much darker than the other purple one. She doesn't know their names, but she can tell they had some form of attachment to the boy holding them. Based on the way he held them so tightly just like he did with Plagg, he seemed to like them as well. 

The boy doesn't show any reaction to Marinette nor Tikki. In fact, the only response he gives to anything is the minute nod and the quietest _ thank you  _ she's ever heard at Master Fu passing him a cup of tea. Outside of that, he just stares down at the miraculouses, expression unreadable. 

She stands in the doorway, frozen like an ice pop, unable to force her body to move forward. It took her mere seconds to piece together his identity, but that had yet to truly hit her and she knew it deep in her chest that it was the solid truth. However, she forces it down to glance at Tikki. 

The kwami looks so saddened, her blue eyes storming with emotions. She's sure Wayzz had told her about whatever happened here that lead to the boy seeking out Master Fu. She surely knew why he had the miraculouses, as well. The mentioned kwami sat on Master Fu's shoulder, both of their eyes drooping with clear sadness. It only worse when silent tears streak down Adrien's face. 

Marinette finally forces herself to break the silence, voice raspy as she quietly asks, "What's going on?" 

Master Fu looks up with worrisome eyes, his attention jerked away from the silent boy. The kwamis glance at her with their own looks of worry and confusion alike, only to focus back on Adrien. Plagg silently wipes his holders' tears, not making a singular comment as more follow. Instead, he lets out a quiet purr, one meant for comfort that Adrien obviously seems to relax into, his eyes momentarily falling on Plagg before returning to his hands, holding the peacock kwami who looks at him with stars in her eyes. 

Master Fu pauses for a moment, clearly weighing his options as he glances between the teenagers. Slowly, he turns to Adrien, offering a soft, "Would it be alright if I go speak with Marinette for a moment, Adrien? I'll be right back, just as soon as we're finished talking. We're just going to the front door if you need us."

The boy just gives a gentle glance at the adult before turning back to the kwami. The most minute nod Marinette has ever seen follows after a moment, his head not even dipping a full half-inch as he agrees that it would be alright. It's so small, so muted that Marinette just barely catches it. She just barely catches the way his bottom lip trembles before getting bitten down with clamped teeth. She can't tell what muted it more, shock or sadness. She doesn't want to linger to find out, either, thankful that Master Fu was quick to pull her away, sliding the doors shut behind them the instant he can. 

He leads her away, neither commenting as Tikki disappears to go be by his side, nor the distinct words of comfort coming from Trixx, Sass, and Longg. She doesn't exactly pay attention to the rest of the kwamis quietly talking to the boy before them. Instead, she focuses as much attention on Master Fu as she can, not minding as he leads her to the front door, just a couple series of doors away. 

He starts with a gentle, "I'd imagine you have a lot of questions." His voice trails off as his vision turns away, focused intently on the last door they had gone through almost as if he was worried that Adrien could still hear them. His brows furrow as he slowly turns his attention back to Marinette, who was nodding intently, dead set on getting answers. Slowly, he forces himself to say whatever sat in the middle of his mind, having to take a moment to gather himself. He finally concludes, "From what Plagg, Nooroo, and Duusu have told me, Gabriel Agreste has actually been Hawkmoth this entire time." 

Marinette feels her mouth fall open, staring at Master Fu with her confusion clear. She stood there, dumbstruck. Everything was seemingly rewritten, every memory getting churned and picked apart with a new perspective, all holding a new meaning to it. That meant so much more than she wanted to dare let on. The sticky, disgusting tendrils of that new perspective wrap tightly around her mind within seconds, choking down her air in a sharp gasp as she forces herself to keep from dwelling. It doesn't stop. In fact, it only gets worse. 

That would have meant that Adrien had been living with a dangerous villain for years now, one so painfully set on ending him. That only made everything  _ worse.  _ Hawkmoth knew the heroes were children, ones no older than their mid-teens, so he certainly knew they had to have at least been within Adrien's range of age. She wonders silently what he would have done, knowing that the child he targeted near-daily was his own, the same one that slept in his own home for the past fifteen years. They had been fighting alongside each other for a while now, which meant that Adrien had been fighting his father for just as long, whether it be knowingly or not. 

"His caretaker, Nathalie Sancoeur, was actually Mayura. Before her, Mayura was his mother, Emilie. However, the peacock miraculous was broken within that time. With that, it subsequently put her in a coma, which is what bent Gabriel into turning to Hawkmoth. Nathalie was set on helping him achieve getting his wife back. The only innocent person outside of Adrien was his bodyguard, who's only interest the entire time has been on keeping Adrien safe." 

A swell of emotions takes over Marinette's chest. It feels like a spark had been lit in her chest, setting her on fire within an instant. It felt so painfully  _ yucky  _ within her, a type of emotion she only felt when she had accidentally been the cause for an akuma or when she was around Lila, so incredibly full of rage that it had made her sick far more than once. This is a painful sick, one far worse than the red-hot anger she had felt broil in her far more than once.

She remembers the singular time he had talked about his mother. He had stars in his eyes the entire time, staring off with a homesick look. At the time, she hadn't been able to pinpoint it. Now, though, it hits disgustingly close to her heart, making her eyes sting. He had talked about her for a full thirty minutes, spewing on about how wonderful of a woman she was but never daring say a thing about her appearance or career. He had said she wasn't ever actually home, that she mostly worked, but when she was home, she was as kind as could be, making sure life was interesting. At least, outside of closed doors, she was. He had ignored his own gloom when she had asked about it, pushing it aside to supply,  _ "You would have loved her, Milady, I'm sure of it." _ He had to cut the conversation short after that, glaring at the alarm that had gone off, supplying that he only had an hour before he would have to get up. She was never brought up again. 

He never talked about his father, not directly. Marinette had only assumed that it meant he was being raised by a second mother or his father was the one to watch him. In fact, when he had said caretaker a time or two, she had assumed that he just had a nonbinary parent taking care of him. Who was she to judge? 

She had never thought out the true logistics of a single thing. In fact, she hadn't even attempted to. She never dared form a family tree for it. In fact, she had ignored it pointedly, making sure to tell Tikki that it was far from her business. 

His reactions to everything seemingly made so much more sense now than they ever had. It made sense, watching his worry and concern at knowing Kagami had been akumatized, to knowing that she had been swallowed up by her akumatized mother as well. It made sense that he had been so in tune with the rest of the Miracubroes  _ (as they had dubbed themselves, much to Marinette's' disbelief),  _ acting as if they had friends before that. They had all been finely in tune with each of them, just the same as he had with Carapace, Rena Rouge, and any of the other heroes that had come along. 

It makes so much more sense that he seemed so upset when he had found out that Ladybug always knew all of their identities and he didn't up until Ryuko. He had been isolated his entire life. Had anyone truly ever told him any secrets before then, trusting him enough, deeming him truly worthy? He had been so upset. Honestly, Marinette was sure that if she were in his shoes, she certainly would have been akumatized. He had been isolated by both parents since he was born. He hadn't been inside any official school until he was in his teenage years, rapidly thrown into it by an angry father that wished for the exact opposite for his son. 

The way his face had lit up at knowing Gabriel Agreste had been akumatized hits just as close, too. Painfully close, even. That had been the only time she had ever seen him happy that someone had been akumatized. At least now, it made sense. It had been  _ (what they'd thought to be) _ confirmation that he wasn't Hawkmoth. She couldn't dare imagine knowing how long he had had the suspicion that  _ maybe _ Hawkmoth was actually his father beneath the mask, especially not for the look he had given then, so full of relief and happiness. She had only thought then that he really did hate Gabriel Agreste. 

Master Fu gently asks, "Marinette, are you alright?" 

"No, of course, I'm not." She doesn't mean to bite out the reply so harshly, but he holds a patience to him that she can only conclude is one of a saints'. He takes her bite in a calm stride of acceptance she had only seen from Chat Noir before. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. It's just…" She purses her lips, glancing at the last door they had come through with her own worry dancing - rather inelegantly - across her face. She's quick to swipe herself back to Master Fu. "How long did he know?" 

The adult quietly supplies, "A while." 

She quickly echoes,  _ "A while?"  _ Her voice is far from forgiving, coming out angry and loud. She practically wailed the words. Her mind echoes that she shouldn't have done that, but she couldn't find it in her to care. For some reason, she was fuming. "What do you even  _ mean  _ by that? He knew for a while and he didn't tell me?" 

Marinette can't pinpoint what feelings boiling inside of her. Not a single one is positive. There's anger, hurt, and so many other emotions that only made her feel worse. She was so  _ bitter, _ yucky against it again. The tendrils of that new perspective sharpen, stabbing her mind so unhappily that she genuinely feels like she'll hurl. Marinette forces herself to breathe through angry lungs. There was no point in it. 

Master Fu was patient, though, taking it in the same stride he had before. He doesn't dare let himself be upset with her, asking, "If you knew that truly acknowledging a secret would ruin your entire life, would you actually think about it or would you ignore it until it tore your life apart itself?" 

She pauses at him, her mouth open in shock. 

Would she  _ really  _ acknowledge it? Would she  _ really, _ though? Would she have actually admitted to Chat Noir that one of her parents was knowingly the same exact villain that they had been fighting off for years now, so willing to get the other parent alive but not keep the child around and healthy in the mix? Would she confide in him, knowing that her life would be in shambles afterward? And how about her uncle or grandmother joining in, just as intent on trying to get them back as the other? 

Or was that the deceptive part of her brain telling her that  _ of course, she would tell him. Who in the fuck wouldn't?  _

She frowns, face falling. Deep inside of her, she knows that she really wouldn't. She would have waited it out until the last possible second. 

She shakes her head. Marinette's entire chest aches, suddenly too cold. She glances at the ground as she pulls away from that train of thought. "Why'd he finally do something, then," she asks. 

Master Fu heaves out a painful sigh, glancing away. He leans against the cane. Both know that he doesn't need it, doesn't need the actual support of it in the least. The came some form of emotional support with it, leaning against it for both emotional and physical. Neither dare say anything about it. 

He glances up at the heroine, his look full of a painful longing that she feels deep within her center. Just seeing it feels familiar to her in ways she knows it should never. He slowly gives her a reply. 

"He tried to akumatized Adrien while he was still in the suit when he was finally coming to terms with it. He fought his father as Chat Blanc instead of Chat Noir." 

Marinette brings her knuckles to her eyes, pressing until she sees that splash of color that came from whatever was held in her eyes. She glares at the reddened skin, angry about the moisture left from lingering tears. In her eyes, she had no right to cry, no right to be upset. She knows it's wrong, though. She wants to be strong, that's all it is. It's not to be strong for herself, but for Adrien, who was struggling with all of this much more than she could imagine. It only makes her angrier with herself to consider. 

"What's going to happen to him?" 

The adult gives a slow shrug, one that doesn't help either of them. "Truthfully, I'm not exactly sure, Marinette. From what Plagg has told me, his bodyguard is the only one worthy of being his guardian. We would like him to take custody of Adrien. He's around far more than any other adult has been his entire life. But… it's only been two hours since everything has happened, so there is only so much we can do for the time being." 

He glances at the door once more, wearing an expression so painfully strained that Marinette finds herself putting him. He flits his gaze back over to her the same way he had been doing so much as of late. 

"As for Gabriel and Nathalie, child neglect and mental abuse are just a few of the charges I can think of. He hasn't been talking to me, so I can't truly be sure of what all we could go through." 

Before Marinette can stop herself, she blurts out, "Gabriel would work him until he passed out!" Her hand comes up to her mouth, covering it as her brows come up. She was surprised with herself for even saying it. Judging by Master Fu's own raised brows, he was the exact same. She decides to continue, "He would sometimes… sometimes, when we… We would… After some akumas, he would talk about his day, what he would have done. He told me a few times that he had passed out after working for hours at a time. He had even thrown up or forced his weight down to be exactly how his father wanted him to be. I… I didn't think anything of it because he was always so casual and he just… he never tried to make it out as a bad thing or…" She wipes her face again, surprised by the thick collection of tears. "He's employed under Gabriel Agreste. He would have had to have known about the treatment he's been getting. Nathalie always tells him everything." 

Master Fu looks sickly pale at that. His eyes widen and he stands up straight, mouth open to reply. However, before he can get a word out, Adrien opens the door, frowning. His eyes stay focused on the ground, more than just a few kwamis hovering around him, all sporting their own worry for the child. He doesn't look up at their faces, unable to. 

Marinette glances at him, ignoring the fact that she, herself, looked like a deer caught in headlights. She focused more on the fact that the tears that had stained his face had washed off the makeup he always wore, contouring it to make his features look sharper like he was still in the suit, even when he wasn't. He had told her that once. Now, though, the makeup-less parts of his face reveal a splatter of freckles, ones similar to Alya's. 

He slowly asks, "Would… Would it be… be an issue if I… If I texted Nino?..." His voice trails off again and again, just barely audible, nerves clear for them to see. "He's… he's really calming to be around… And he's Carapace… So he's gonna know about this…" 

Master Fu is quick to put up a front for the boy, smiling calmly. Marinette doesn't like how quickly he shifts, but she finds herself doing the exact same. 

"Of course, Adrien. Just… Try to keep it within the circle of those with a miraculous, if you can. I can give you a list of those who have used one if you'd like?"

He shakes his head, dipping in a thankful bow. "Would Nino, Kagami, and Luka be alright to text?" He looks up at them with a silent hope in his eyes. It was the first time Marinette could finally get a full look at his sorrowful face. She silently decides that she never wants to ever see it again. 

Master Fu smiles and nods. "Of course, Adrien." 

**Author's Note:**

> Babies... They all babies.... 
> 
> Slow-ish updates but still updates.


End file.
